What the facility does
Supports forest bioeconomy companies in innovation and technology transfer projects.
Areas of expertise
As a centre of expertise in forest products processing, SEREX helps bioeconomy companies advance innovation and technological transition. It provides specialized support and knowledge transfer tailored to the needs of the wood processing, advanced biorefining, forest bioenergy, and sustainable construction sectors.
Research services
SEREX supports companies as well as private-sector, public-sector, and non-profit organizations at every stage of the innovation process in the forest bioeconomy. Its research services span the full innovation cycle, from applied research and experimental development to technology maturation and technology transfer:
- Applied research: Generate scientific knowledge, validate scientific principles, and develop new products and processes.
- Experimental development: Optimize and improve products (panels, construction materials, building systems, biofuels, renewable fuels, etc.) and processes (sawing, drying, pyrolysis, etc.), conduct formulation and prototyping activities, and address technical uncertainties.
- Technology maturation and pilot-scale testing: Conduct proof-of-concept studies, technology readiness level (TRL) scale-up testing, and techno-economic assessments to validate the industrial potential of emerging technologies and processes.
- Diagnostics, metrology and modelling: Perform non-destructive testing, 3D scanning, in situ building diagnostics (airtightness testing, thermography, indoor air quality (IAQ), and acoustics), reverse engineering, and CAD/CAM integration for the analysis of materials and building systems.
- Technology transfer and strategic intelligence: Conduct technology and competitive intelligence activities, support product certification and commercialization, assist with plant implementation and production process optimization, and transfer R&D know-how to industrial teams.
Sectors of application
- Clean technology
- Construction (including building, civil engineering, specialty trades)
- Energy
- Forestry and forest-based industries
- Manufacturing and processing
Specialized labs and equipment
- Wood processing: Develop, manufacture, and characterize finished and semi-finished wood products, including particleboards, insulation materials, and engineered wood products. Conduct drying, CNC machining, 3D optical metrology, surface characterization, accelerated aging, and mechanical and non-destructive testing of materials. Infrastructure includes a panel press, wood kilns, a 3-axis CNC machine, a 3D optical metrology system, ultrasonic and near-infrared (NIR) non-destructive testing systems, a Q-Sun accelerated weathering chamber, mechanical testing systems, a goniometer, and an impregnation autoclave.
- Forest bioenergy: Produce, optimize, and characterize solid, liquid, and gaseous biofuels derived from forest biomass. Conduct thermochemical conversion, pelletization, and product and coproduct characterization. Infrastructure includes rotary kiln and fluidized-bed pyrolysis units, a micro-cogeneration unit, a high-temperature vacuum furnace, a flat-die pellet mill, thermal analyzers, a bomb calorimeter, elemental analyzers, a rheometer-tribometer, a flash point tester, and a syngas analyzer.
- Sustainable construction: Develop and evaluate sustainable building materials and systems, with a focus on wood-frame buildings. Conduct hygrothermal, energy performance, acoustic, and indoor air quality (IAQ) testing, as well as numerical simulations and life cycle assessments. Infrastructure includes a climate simulation chamber, environmental chambers, an acoustic test room, a mobile metrology station, material characterization instruments, and modelling and simulation software.
- Second-generation (2G) biorefining: Produce high-value specialty bioproducts from forest biomass components. Perform extraction, fractionation, chemical conversion, and analytical characterization of bioproducts. Infrastructure includes high-temperature pressurized reactors, an accelerated solvent extraction system (ASE 300), a continuous-flow ultrasonic-assisted extraction system, a microwave reaction system, a spray dryer, and spectroscopy (FTIR, NIR, MP-AES, UV-Vis) and chromatography instruments (GC-MS, GC-FID, ion chromatography, and flash chromatography).